Exploring the learning, reflection, and social interaction of teachers through digital teaching portfolios

Abstract

Though portfolios have been widely proposed as a tool for teacher learning and professional development, their effects have rarely been empirically evaluated. This study empirically evaluates the relationships among teachers’ learning, reflection, and social interaction, which are all demonstrated in digital teaching portfolios. 44 in-service substitute teachers participated in a course of classroom assessment and used a digital portfolio system to construct their contents of portfolios. Based on the framework of teachers’ reflective thinking developed by Sparks-Langer, Simmons, Pasch, Colton, and Starko (1990), we found that in their reflection journals most teachers were able to demonstrate middle to high levels of reflection, while most teachers did not show the highest level of reflection. We also found that teachers’ professional knowledge about classroom assessment, which was shown in their implementation of assessment activities, significantly improved during the process of constructing portfolios. The computer-mediated discourse among teachers were analyzed and then served as an indicator of teachers’ participation (social interaction) in the learning community. Pearson’s moment-product correlations were calculated among teachers’ level of reflection, intensiveness of social interaction, and learning. The results indicated that reflection is significantly related with social interaction, grades of homework, and summative achievement; but not with learning progress. Social interaction is significantly correlated with grades of homework, learning progress, and summative achievement. A metaphor of the teaching portfolio as a mediator for converging resources of and enacting teachers’ professional development was used to interpret the roles of portfolios in teachers’ professional development.